By Terri-Liza Fortein
On January 18, learners in the Eastern Cape headed back to school along with other in inland provinces. But 23 children won’t be going back to school because their young lives ended in taverns.
In June 2022, 21 youths died at the Enyobeni Tavern in Scenery Park, and on Christmas Day two more teens died at the Razzmatazz Tavern in Hofmeyr.
The Enyobeni tragedy shook the country, and President Cyril Ramaphosa himself attended the funeral and delivered the eulogy.
“Blame must be laid at the feet of those who are making money off the dreams and lives of the young people of South Africa by breaking the law and selling them alcohol.
“We have seen the pictures and videos on social media of young men and women in Enyobeni Tavern on the night of June 26, 2022. Children should not have been allowed inside that place – a place of adults. They should not have been served alcohol. What was happening was illegal,” said Ramaphosa during the eulogy.
Following the Enyobeni incident, the Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in South Africa lodged a formal complaint and demanded that the authorities look into the Enyobeni tragedy. We implored president Ramaphosa to act to avoid more tragedy related to underage drinking and address alcohol harm in general.
The additional deaths in Hofmeyr have heightened the need for the government to act swiftly to keep South Africa’s young people safe and reduce underage drinking.
Those under the age of 18 are not allowed to purchase alcohol. It is against the law. So why, then, are they losing their lives in taverns whose core business is to sell alcohol?
As an organisation working to strengthen legislation that will tackle alcohol harm and improve public health, the alliance is gravely concerned. Ramaphosa himself told the country during the Enyobeni funeral that, in addition to the tavern deaths, young people getting injured and hurt in alcohol-related violence inside taverns, and getting into road accidents or becoming victims of crime after leaving taverns, bars and clubs, was worrying.
He said: “We are losing our future generation to the scourge of underage drinking. Alcohol is highly addictive. It is something to be consumed in moderation and responsibly, and only by those who are of the legal age to do so and mature enough to handle its effects. Alcohol abuse leads to many social problems, such as gender-based violence, sex crimes, interpersonal violence, murders, and deaths on our roads.”
The harmful use of alcohol leads to 3.3 million deaths per annum globally (5.9% of all deaths), and is a major predictor of morbidity. The impact of alcohol use is not only experienced by adults, but also by adolescents, for whom alcohol consumption is a key risk factor for non-communicable and infectious diseases, as well as various social and psychological harms, including school failure and dropout.
In South Africa, rates of alcohol consumption among adolescents are very high. According to the 2011 Youth Risk Behaviour Survey conducted among Grade 8-11 learners in public schools, about half the learners had consumed alcohol, about a quarter had engaged in binge drinking in the 30 days prior to the survey, and about 12% had initiated consumption before the age of 12.
This is according to an article published in the South African Medical Journal titled “Alcohol marketing and adolescent alcohol consumption: Results from the International Alcohol Control Study (South Africa)”.
We need the president to drive swift and urgent action to change the situation in our communities and stand by his word to address this issue. The Liquor Amendment Bill of 2017 must be passed urgently. The clauses in the Basic Education Legislation Amendment Bill proposing that alcohol be allowed to be sold at school functions must be scrapped, and enforcement of existing laws must be bolstered if we are to reduce alcohol harm and its impact.
We must take measures to reduce the abuse of alcohol through a combination of legislative and other measures, including community mobilisation and support, to create an alcohol-safer South Africa
Often government in its messaging focuses on the behaviour of individuals by calling for “responsible drinking”, much like the liquor industry. They are trying to relieve themselves of responsibility.
From the World Health Organization to leading public health researchers and practitioners across the globe, the message is clear: robust government intervention is needed to reduce excessive alcohol consumption and limit the negative social impact of alcohol on the lives of people and communities across the world.
Much as the alcohol industry would love to self-regulate, it will never adopt measures that will threaten its profits. It is only the government – through effective legislation and enforcement of that legislation, together with the support of communities empowered to have a meaningful influence over when, where and how alcohol is sold and consumed in their neighbourhoods – that has the authority and the capacity to ensure the realisation of an alcohol-safer country.
When Ramaphosa takes the podium on February 9 to deliver the State of the Nation Address, he needs to announce concrete and urgent measures to reduce alcohol harm, and hopefully announce a whole-government multi-faceted plan to reduce alcohol harm as a priority.
South Africans have been waiting for many years for legislation that can really make a difference and significantly reduce alcohol harm. Many have died and been negatively impacted. The countries coffers have been affected, as alcohol harm costs the fiscus. We cannot afford to wait any longer.
The alliance is very clear. We expect Ramaphosa to address alcohol harm, and we won’t wait any longer. We are tired of waiting. Those who have lost loved ones or been disabled by drivers who drank and caused accidents are tired of waiting, and the families of the now 23 teenagers who died in taverns last year are tired of waiting.
*Terri-Liza Fortein is a former journalist and communication specialist based in Cape Town. She currently holds the position of Communications Manager at the Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in South Africa